28 days too long

Rating: 5/10 (27 October 2005)

The promo commercials for this movie led me to believe this was a new twist on the zombie film, but in reality it's just a poorly scripted sci-fi/horror flick.
Okay, a mysterious disease that causes you to turn into a berserk killer with weird red eyes in less than a minute is let loose on the London population. You get infected through a bite or absorption through breaks in your skin of blood/fluid from the berserkers...so the quick fall of London can be accepted. Thing is, the berserkers are not zombies because I did not see them consume the flesh of their victims. And they're not invulnerable...a well place baseball bat, hatchet, or bullet can do them in. So it confused me that after the first 2 weeks of mayhem, the British military or UN would have caught on, quarantined London, and then send in troops in bio-hazard suits complete with tanks, flamethrowers, etc. to mop up the berserkers. In other words, a tighter time-line, a tighter script.
Now mind you, having a red eyed, banshee screaming nut job coming at you full tilt is a refreshing change from the usual shuffling zombie gig, and the grisly reality of what to do with a bitten companion before they turn berserker gets you on the edge of your seat...but this film just lacked the claustrophobic atmosphere of any decent "zombie" flick ..... the interpersonal reactions between various characters just didn't hold my interest, and the obvious "villainous turn" by some of the survivors was too obvious to surprise me.
Bottom line: hype sold this film, but hype won't keep your interest in it.